Great advances in the medical field have occurred, particularly in the second-half of the twentieth century. In addition, the public has generally increased its awareness of health issues and has become more concerned with proper exercise. Accordingly, the average age of the population has steadily increased. Consequently, more senior citizens tend to be living in their own homes than ever before. Being solitary and away from family unity, there is increased potential risk of unattended emergencies.
Often, persons involved in serious accidents in their own homes are found to have waited helplessly for hours before discovery. Persons who have encountered a serious accident may simply be unable to draw attention to their predicaments.
Some individuals living alone may require assistance, because of age or sickness, to simply rise up from a collapsed state. Other individuals, who are victims of multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, or simply prone to dizziness or sudden illness may similarly require assistance in rising.
Unfortunately, many presently available alarms are poorly suited to meet the needs of individuals who live alone and may require assistance in the case of an emergency. Some individuals may be unconscious while in an emergency state, unable to activate any alarm manually. Other devices may be prone to set off alarms whether or not the individual requires assistance simply because the individual has moved in an erratic fashion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,285, hereby incorporated by reference, discloses an improved alarm for sending distress information over a communication link. The alarm includes a tilt switch and a transmitter and is worn by a user. The tilt switch sends a tilt signal in response to being turned to a predetermined direction. Thus, should the user fall down and, for example, lie at a sever angle with respect to a vertical line, the switch will send a signal indicating the user's emergency. The transmitter receives the tilt signal and then transmits distress information over a communication link.
A disadvantage associated with the alarm disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,285 is that automatic two way audio and voice communication needs to be established between monitoring personnel that receive the distress information from the transmitter and the user wearing the alarm. Another disadvantage associated with the alarm disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,285 is that there needs to be a way for monitoring personnel to determine when the user moves outside of a safety area such that assistance can be provided to the user to safely move outside the safety area. A further disadvantage associated with the alarm disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,285 is that there needs to be a way to alert the monitoring personnel when the user is not wearing the alarm.